Erdogan’s son denies Russian allegations of Islamic State tradeDecember 8, 2015 - 17:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The son of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has denied Russian allegations that he and his family were profiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq, Reuters reports. Russia's defense ministry said last week it had proof that the Erdogan family was benefiting from this trade. Turkey has already dismissed the accusations and the president's son Bilal added his voice to the many denials. "We build offices in Istanbul ... We do not do business in the Mediterranean, in Syria or Iraq," he was quoted as saying in Corriere della Sera newspaper, talking about his own corporate concerns, which have been called into question by Russian media. "ISIS is an enemy of my country. ISIS is a disgrace. It puts my religion in a bad light. They don't represent Islam and I do not consider them to be Muslims," he said, referring to Islamic State by one of its various acronyms. One of the four children of President Erdogan, Bilal has shipping and maritime assets and controls several oil tankers through his company and partnerships in other firms. However, he denied he had any operational shipping activities, saying his company had a contract to build "river tankers" for a Russian client, but that it did not operate the ships itself. He also denied that his brother Burak might have transported oil from lands controlled by Islamic State. "He has a cargo ship, but it cannot be used as a tanker." Instead, he said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was profiting from the sale of Islamic State oil. "If you follow ISIS oil, you will find Assad." Damascus has previously accused the Turkish government, which is hostile to Assad, of allowing Islamic State insurgents to smuggle contraband out of northern Syria. "What happened concerning the Russian jet was unpleasant, but we have to concentrate on the real problems: ISIS and the future of Syria," Bilal Erdogan said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | About 173 million drams and more than 30 beneficiary funds. "The Power of One Dram" is 4 years old In June 2020, the exclusive joint corporate social responsibility initiative of Idram and IDBank "The Power of One Dram" was launched. CSTO budget “to be adjusted due to Yerevan’s non-payment of contributions” The CSTO budget for the current year requires adjustments due to the refusal of Yerevan to pay their share of contributions. Russia sends note of protest to Armenia over envoy’s trip to Ukraine’s Bucha Russia has sent a note of protest to Armenia over the visit of Vladimir Karapetyan and Tigran Ter-Margaryan to Bucha. Armenia: Protesters march to parliament, some spend the night on street The protesters did not disperse despite heavy rain that began at around 2 a.m. local time. |